Applications of Seasonal Climate Forecasting in Agricultural and Natural Ecosystems

Section I — Introduction.- 1. The importance of climate variability and seasonal forecasting to the Australian economy.- 2. The relevance of seasonal climate forecasting to a rural producer.- 3. Understanding and predicting the world’s climate system.- 4. A general systems approach to applying seasonal climate forecasts.- Section II — Seasonal Climate Forecasting.- 5. The development and delivery of current seasonal climate forecasting capabilities in Australia.- 6. The potential for improved statistical seasonal climate forecasts.- 7. Global climatic models and their potential for seasonal climatic forecasting.- 8. Operational experience with climate model predictions.- 9. Stochastic down-scaling of general circulation model simulations.- 10. Statistical methods for deriving seasonal climate forecasts from GCM’s.- Section III — Farm Scale Agricultural Decisions.- 11. Using seasonal climate forecasts to manage dryland crops in northern Australia — Experiences from the 1997/98 seasons.- 12. The potential value of seasonal climate forecasting in managing cropping systems.- 13. Comparing the value of seasonal climate forecasting systems in managing cropping systems.- 14. Managing climatic variability in Queensland’s grazing lands — New approaches.- 15. Simulation of grazing strategies for beef production in north-east Queensland.- 16. Managing climate variability in grazing enterprises: A case study for Dalrymple shire, north-eastern Australia.- 17. Seasonal climate forecasting and the management of rangelands: Do production benefits translate into enterprise profits?.- 18. Building knowledge and skills to use seasonal climate forecasts in property management planning.- 19. Opportunities to improve the use of seasonal climate forecasts.- Section IV —Regional and National Scale Agricultural Decisions.- 20. Aussie GRASS: Australian grassland and rangeland assessment by spatial simulation.- 21. Using seasonal climate forecasts in forecasting the Australian wheat crop.- 22. Can seasonal climate forecasts predict movements in grain prices?.- Section V — Natural Systems.- 23. Climate variability, seasonal forecasting and invertebrate pests — The need for a synoptic view.- 24. ENSO regulation of Indo-Pacific green turtle populations.- 25. Streamflow variability, seasonal forecasting and water resources systems.- 26. The effect of climate on the incidence of vector-borne viral diseases in Australia: The potential value of seasonal forecasting.- Section VI — Synthesis.- 27. Applying seasonal climate forecasts in agricultural and natural ecosystems — a synthesis.